


Look who's coming to dinner and also isn't an angsty loner

by Zurela



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, I wrote this before ngozi's blog post, Multi, my own take on jack and bitty going to marty's for dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:52:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9410363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurela/pseuds/Zurela
Summary: Marty thinks dinner with Jack and his boyfriend is about to be the most uncomfortable experience of his life, but not for the reasons anyone thinks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before Ngozi made her own little mini-comic of how dinner with Marty would go, but I figured I would post it anyways! Also this isn't beta'd so sorry for any mistakes!

Finally, after endless pestering, Marty had gotten Jack to agree come over for dinner. While Jack had been an excellent addition to the team and played exceptional hockey, he had yet to really get close with any of the Falconers or open up yet. Since Marty was the self-appointed Team Dad, he took it upon himself to help Jack relax around them a little more. 

Half the time anyone on the team spoke to him, he looked like a deer caught in headlights, as if he believed he wasn’t supposed to be there. Now, it was no secret that Jack had had some trouble in the past, so everyone seemed to expect some amount of hesitance. But nevertheless, he was clearly a good guy who was well beyond a dark place in his life. 

Maybe this was just the kind of guy Jack was? It seemed pretty obvious based on his quiet nature that he had never been as loud or as much of a bro as other guys in the league. Marty invited him to dinner to try and get to know him better and help him ease up, but what if this wasn’t nerves at being the new guy? What if Jack really was just a quiet loner?

“Ah!” Marty turned his attention back to the task at hand, cutting up onions while his wife cooked chicken at the stove beside him. Or, rather, cutting onions and fingers.

“Everything alright over there?” Despite the question, Gabby didn’t even spare a glance over. Apparently, after years of being married to a hockey player, she had dealt with enough injuries to know he had handled worse. Hmm. Rude.

“No, I cut the tip of my finger off! This is gonna need stitches! We’ll have to call Jack and cancel!”

“Mmhm.” Not even a second of hesitation. Apparently it’s also been enough years of marriage for her to pick out a lie.

“Not even worried for your dear husband as he bleeds out on the kitchen floor?”

“I’m more worried that you’ll get blood in our food. And it’s your own fault for not paying attention!”

Marty hip-checked Gabby on his way to the sink to clean the bit of blood off his finger. “Sorry, I’m just a little, euh...nervous. About dinner. And having Jack here.”

At that, Gabby did turn away from the stove, and turned a scornful eye on her husband. “Are you uncomfortable with him bringing his boyfriend? I know you, and I know you would never say anything to Jack if it did bother him, but if you’re going to treat him differently because he’s dating a man and not a woman then clearly those seminars about tolerance and locker room behavior haven’t been effective. I mean honestly, it’s 2016, same-sex marriage has been legal for-”

 

“What? No! It’s not about that! Honestly, it’s a relief that he told me about his boyfriend. I thought he was dodging me because he didn’t like me, or being on the team…”

Gabby’s frown softened as she turned back to the stove. “What’s bothering you then?”

Marty turned back to chopping onions now that his mess was taken care of. “Well, it’s just...what if that’s it? What if he doesn’t like me? Or the team? He’s been awfully quiet since he joined the Falconers, and he hasn’t really bonded with anyone. Of course all the guys are great to him, I wouldn’t put up with it if they weren’t, and Tater’s basically adopted the kid, but-”

“Oh honey, I’m sure he likes all of you. I’ve known those boys for a while now and it’s hard not to like most of them-”

“Most? Is it Snowy?”

“-and honestly, he was probably nervous about being judged for his past, or for being gay, especially in a league with no out players.”

“I know that, and I get it, but it’s been months. By now we all know that all the rumors about him are completely wrong, and I don’t think I’ve heard any comments in the locker room that would’ve made him feel unwelcome...what if he’s just that kind of person? He’s a great asset to the team either way, but it’s hard to build trust with your teammates if you don’t bond with them a little.” 

Marty brought the chopped onions and dumped them in the pot, then leaned down so his wife could peck him on the cheek. With his part of the cooking taken care of, that left him room to pace around the kitchen.

“You worry too much. Give it time. He just made his NHL debut, and he’s already gotten the A and come out to you. That has to count for something!”

“And that’s another thing! If he is some shy loner, what is his boyfriend like? Sure, he’s clearly a great cook, but you know he’s gotta be about as intense as Jack if they’re together. Is this about to be the most awkward dinner of our lives?”

Gabby opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. She cast her husband a pointed look and turned back to the stove. Marty made his way over to the door, imagining two big, tall, brooding hockey players waiting silently outside…

...and opened his door to a small blonde man with a big smile on his face with Jack laughing beside him, looking completely happy and relaxed. He used their moment of distraction to wipe the surprise off his face and put on a casual smile.

The blonde man turned to him first (or boy, he was so small, how old was this kid?) and he startled in surprise. “Oh! Hello! I’m Eric Bittle, but nobody calls me Eric, I usually just go by Bitty! But you can call me Eric if you want, or Bitty, it can’t be as bad as Jack calling me Bittle for the first two years we knew each other. Of course, I’m sure you know as well as I do that Jack is bad at expressing emotion. Oh, look at me, where are my manners! It’s so nice to meet you, sir Jack has told me so much about you. I brought pie, of course, I hope you like apple, but Jack insisted we also bring a bottle of wine! Not that we think you won’t have good wine, of course, just trying to be polite!”

Jack passed the bottle of wine in his right hand over to his left in order to put his hand on his boyfriend’s, Eric’s, shoulder. 

“Bits. It’s okay.” He turned his gaze up to Marty. “Sorry, he’s pretty nervous.”

“Well how can I not be nervous, honey! You can’t just come out to your team members after months and then bring me to dinner with a famous NHL player right after and not expect me to be nervous, goodness…”

“Haha, I know. Marty, may we come in?”

Marty startled at having their attention rounded on him. “Oh! Of course, make yourself at home! Gabby is just finishing dinner before it goes in the oven, she doesn’t trust me to do much more than cut onions, which I apparently couldn’t manage well either, but don’t worry. She’s a great cook, well, I know you’re pretty good yourself, Eric, so I hope you enjoy it, and, euh...” He led them to their living room and motioned at the couch. “Have a seat, and I’ll go let Gabby know you’re here and pour us all some wine.”

Trying not to run, he grabbed the bottle of wine and left for the kitchen, where his wife was just putting the pan in the oven.

“Well it sounds like everything is going well in there.” 

“I was caught off guard! This kid looks to be all of 18 years old, and definitely not the build of a hockey player. How did Jack end up with a sunny little Southerner? How does that matchup work?”

“Please, speak a little louder, honey. I’m not 100% sure those boys heard you.”

“Sorry, just...please come out there with me before I make this worse.”

After Gabby joined the conversation, it went a lot smoother. They discussed Jack’s time at Samwell, his time on the Falconers, Gabby’s career, Bitty’s plans for the rest of his college career...with plenty of chirping aimed at Jack and Marty. Dinner was a similarly simple affair, and Eric’s pie was unsurprisingly amazing. They retreated back to the living room afterwards to talk more, with Marty and Gabby taking up arm chairs on opposite sides of the room while Bitty curled into Jack’s side on the couch, much more relaxed than earlier after a meal and a few glasses of wine. Jack had his arm wrapped around Bitty’s shoulders, similar to earlier on the porch, but also kept his face close to the crown of Bitty’s head, looking equally relaxed and comforted by the presence of his boyfriend.

Despite looking relaxed, Bitty would occasionally throw a worried glance in Marty’s direction, apparently waiting for some sort of reprimand at his and Jack’s proximity. Eric was a hockey player, his team knew he was out, and Marty hadn’t said anything that should’ve made him nervous to be showing affection with Jack. And yet, he looked like he was expecting Marty to start yelling at him or mocking him. That wouldn’t do at all.

Marty gave Bitty a warm smile. “So, you two never did tell me how you ended up together. You play hockey on the same team for two years and only start dating after one of you leaves?”

Jack’s cheeks reddened at that. “Euh, yeah, I...had to work out my own feelings first. I may have never said anything if my dad hadn’t given me a push. I had just graduated, I was about to leave with my parents and George, and...I couldn’t leave yet. So I just ran back to our hockey house and kissed him.”

Gabby chuckled. “Aww, such a romantic gesture, if at a bit of a bad time.”

The tension in Bitty’s face seemed to drain. “Oh trust me, I know! I spend months agonizing over having a crush on my supposedly-straight teammate, and he just up and kisses me right before leaving! Not that I didn’t appreciate it, I doubt I would’ve ever had the courage to tell him how I felt.”

Marty turned to Eric. “Oh? I mean, I know Jack can sometimes be hard to read, but you really had no idea how he felt? You never would’ve said something?”

The tension returns. “Oh, well, um, no, I mean, none of the boys at Samwell ever said anything to me, of course, but it’s hard to expect how someone would react to being told a boy has a crush on them, and I’m still not completely used to being out, and…”

Jack turned to kiss the top of Bitty’s head, then looked directly into his eyes. “I wouldn’t have been mad. None of us would have ever been mean to you, you know that, Bits.”

Bitty rolled his eyes. “I know that now, Mister Zimmermann. But it’s not like you were very nice to me for, I don’t know, an entire year.”

Marty thought this could be the start of an argument, or maybe a discussion he shouldn’t be present for, but the two of them just started laughing. “That was before you helped improve my game.”

“Oh, of course, you fell for my hockey skills. I won’t stand for this! No more pie for you!”

“My trainer will be devastated by the loss.”

“Hush, you! Fine, then, no more kisses!”

At this, Jack clutched his chest with one hand and used to arm around Bitty’s shoulders to pull him into a headlock.

“Bits, nooooo!” He then proceeded to pull Bitty into his lap, trying to plant a kiss on his face while Bitty fought to get away. Finally, he scooped up Bitty’s legs and pulled him all the way up to him where Bitty couldn’t escape.

“Haha, looks like I win.”

“Jack! Be polite! We are guests at Marty and Gabby’s house!”

Jack, apparently, had forgotten where they were and looked up with a sheepish glance, placing Bitty back on the couch away from him.

Gabby laughed. “Oh, please, it’s a delight to see you two so happy together. Marty told me earlier he thought Jack might be some kind of loner!”

“Gabby!!”

Bitty rolled his eyes. “My goodness, don’t I know it! Turns out this boy is such a sweetheart when he actually opens up to you. He has a lot of trouble expressing his emotions, but he and I are working together on it! Honestly, Marty, you and the other Falconers have been such a blessing to him. He speaks so highly of you, I can’t believe he was ready to come out so quickly! So proud of my big strong hockey player boyfriend.” Bitty turned to kiss Jack’s now blazing red cheek.

“Bits, stoppp,” Jack practically whined, though he was clearly eating up the praise and affection.

Marty just watched, looking at the way Eric held onto Jack as if nothing could hurt him as long as they were connected, at the way Jack looked down at his boyfriend, clearly embarrassed but with love and happiness and pure emotion in his eyes.

Marty sighed, and looked to Gabby with a contented smile. “Well, it’s certainly been great having Jack on the team. He’s a great guy, all the Falconers can see that. I’m very grateful that you two were able to trust me with this.”

Jack and Bitty just smiled up at each other with complete bliss. Marty wasn’t lying, Jack was a great person, both of them were. And Marty would do whatever it took to make sure Jack was comfortable enough to let those emotions show all the time.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang out with me on tumblr!](https://zurela.tumblr.com/)


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